The Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association will begin a new competitive format for its regular season and tournament competition that will go into effect with the 2011-12 season, Commissioner David Neilson announced today.

The MIAA will institute home-and-home round-robin formats for regular season competition in team sports, with the exception of football and softball, which will remain with single round-robin schedules. In sports where a postseason tournament is used to determine the automatic qualifier (AQ) for NCAA Division III championship competition, all tournaments will adopt a four-team format, Neilson said.

“The Presidents’ Council of the MIAA has reaffirmed the principle that MIAA conference competition and championships are the primary objective of in-season play.

“They also strongly endorse and support NCAA postseason play, and the aspirations of our student-athletes, coaches and institutions to compete at the highest level and on the national stage.”

“To further increase the significance of MIAA regular-season play, all AQ tournaments will include only the top four teams based upon final regular season standings,” Commissioner Neilson said. “The Presidents’ Council believes this reinforces the concept of earning a playoff position through success in the regular season.”